Popularity of electric buses on the rise in New Town
Kolkata: The popularity of electric buses in New Town is growing fast with more than 20,000 people having travelled in the same in the past one and a half months.
New Town is the only area in Bengal where air-conditioned electric buses have been introduced. There are three buses, two for Action Area I and one for Action Area II.
The buses cover the routes that have not been covered by other buses. The buses go up to Unitech and Karigari Bhavan after the St. Xavier's University campus. The fare is Rs 10 and stations have been set up to charge the batteries.
The buses strictly observe the guidelines of Safe Drive Save Life and the maximum speed of the vehicles is 40-50 km per hour. Before introduction of the buses, the drivers were given special training as they have to give tickets to the passengers as there are no conductors.
The coaches of the 32 seater buses have been built by Eicher Motors, while the electrical systems have been installed by Karnataka-based KPIT. The introduction of electric buses is a big step towards a greener and cleaner city. Taking cue from the success of the electric buses, Zoomcar has proposed to introduce electric vehicles that can be hired and used by the people inside New Town.
New Town has also introduced the cycle-sharing scheme, the only of its kind available in the country. There are graded roads and the cycles are fitted with GPS. The scheme has become immensely popular. In New Town, the street lights are being replaced by LED lamps in phases to conserve energy.
